Approaching storm clouds are one thing: departing storm clouds quite another. As tropical storm Cindy moved away to the northeast, her dissipating clouds helped to transform the sunset.
It’s National Pollinator Awareness Week — a time to celebrate all of the bees, butterflies, beetles, bats, and bugs that contribute so much to our gardens and our tables.
While the Monarchs may be stars of the show (along with their equally flashy companions, the Queens and the Viceroys) there are multitudes of other pollinators that deserve to be noticed. Some are beautiful; others are quite plain. Some we can’t help but notice; a few seem reluctant to be seen at all. Nevertheless, all have a role to play in our world, and all have something to teach us.
Here are three delightful butterflies I recently found at the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. They’re just a token of what’s waiting to be seen, if we take the time to look.
Salt Marsh Skipper (Panoquina panoquin) on twisted-leaf goldenrod (Solidago tortifolia)
Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) on Texas vervain (verbena halei)
Possibly a common checkered skipper ~ Pyrgus communis
There once was a beetle named Bill
But the petals appealed,
and proceeded to eat to his fill.
